1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a protector for the human earlobe, and more particularly to a reinforcement to prevent or temporarily repair the tearing of the earlobe by the weight of heavy pierced earrings, to minimize the pinching associated with clamp-type earrings, to allow the wearing of some styles of pierced-type earrings when the earlobes are not pierced, or to simulate the look of earrings without the necessity for holes pierced in the ears.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous people experience difficulty, discomfort and frequently disfiguring and painful injury from wearing earrings suspended from openings pierced through the earlobes. One source of problems with such pierced earrings is that the entire weight of the earring is transmitted through a post or stem of very small cross-sectional area which passes through the opening in the earlobe. Some earrings are heavy and over time, the result can be a downward tearing or shearing of the earlobe tissue. The hole may be enlarged to the extent that an earring will no longer be retained by the ear. It eventually may rip all the way through the bottom of the earlobe, such that no hole exists but rather two flaps of skin upon which the wearing of any type of earring becomes impossible. Correction of this damage requires an expensive plastic surgery procedure, and even afterwards the ear tissue may be forever weakened in this area.
While there are many kinds of earrings that do not require holes pierced in the earlobes, they are retained on the ear by means of spring-loaded or screw-adjustable clamps which pinch the soft tissue of the earlobe in their jaws. Wearers of this type of earring experience discomfort and possible injury from the prolonged compression of the tissue. Furthermore, people will attempt to wear clamp or clip-type earrings on earlobes already damaged from wearing pierced earrings. Additional injury is often the result.
There also exists a very real danger to children of infection and injury as a result of having their ears pierced at an early age. Young children often may not properly care for what is essentially an open wound created in the earlobe, thus making infection more likely. Physical injury is always a possibility as a result of snagging either the earring or the opening itself during play.
While there are several devices which deal with pierced earlobes in general, the prior art has not recognized or dealt with tendency of the post or stem of the pierced earring to travel downward through the bottom of the earlobe in response to gravity. Although the problem has been partially addressed by the increasing availability of extremely lightweight earrings, the lighter-weight materials don't provide the glamour associated with precious metals and stones; and the cosmetic effect is diminished from that provided by more traditional earrings. There has been no attempt to structurally reinforce the earlobe.
The patent to Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 161,853 is a device to prevent an open-stemmed earring from climbing out of the earlobe. The patents to Spicher, U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,207; Abramowitz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,829; and Shein, U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,223 are surgical instruments intended to remain in the lobe only while it heals and not while an earring is being worn. The patent to Ivey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,341 is a device to protect from allergic reaction but provides no structural reinforcement to the earlobe tissue. The patents to Cuvar et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,540; Beam et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,817; and Didomenico, U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,788 are methods or means of non-allergenic earring construction. The patent to Fountoulakis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,050 is simply a clutch-type retainer for a post-type earring.
There are several pad-type devices that provide some cushioning for clamp-type earrings, but the pads attach to the clamps of the earring themselves and, as the surface that contacts the ear is somewhat slick, the entire assembly tends to slip off the ear.
Some self-adhesive ear decorations are available for children but do not simulate actual earrings. The materials from which they are constructed and their accompanying adhesives give these decorative stickers a useful lifespan of minutes and as such they have no value as anything other than children's novelties.
I am unaware of any product that allows the wearing of pierced-type earrings without the necessity for holes in the earlobes. Thus, there presently exists a need for a means to conveniently and effectively remedy the above described situations that have been ignored by the prior art.